Cjbear087 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 So my fish have a pretty severe case of fin rot which doesn't seem to be getting better and I have a few questions about Maracyn 1 and 2. I have heard that Maracyn 1 is safe for beneficial bacteria but Maracyn 2 kills it and crashes your cycle. What I was thinking is I will order both and complete a full treatment of Maracyn 1 and then leave it for a few weeks, and if I see any improvement I wont bother with 2. However if its still bad I will then do a course of 2. The reason I dont really want to do 2 is because I have to take out my filter and everything and have a chance of losing my cycle and its just a big pain. Do I have to use them simultaneously or will my plan be fine? Thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briancanoles Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 I guess you raised temperature to about 82 degrees? That speeds up the life cycle of ick. That helps. Salt in the tank. Not too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 12:54 PM, Cjbear087 said: have heard that Maracyn 1 is safe for beneficial bacteria but Maracyn 2 maracyn is just the old standard erythromycin. You would be better off with maracyn2. Both have an equal chance of killing your cycle. and if you're not doing an extended course of either, the cycle should be fine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlindsey Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 12:54 PM, Cjbear087 said: So my fish have a pretty severe case of fin rot which doesn't seem to be getting better and I have a few questions about Maracyn 1 and 2. I have heard that Maracyn 1 is safe for beneficial bacteria but Maracyn 2 kills it and crashes your cycle. What I was thinking is I will order both and complete a full treatment of Maracyn 1 and then leave it for a few weeks, and if I see any improvement I wont bother with 2. However if its still bad I will then do a course of 2. The reason I dont really want to do 2 is because I have to take out my filter and everything and have a chance of losing my cycle and its just a big pain. Do I have to use them simultaneously or will my plan be fine? Thanks If possible take the infected fish out and treat in a tote or spare aquarium. If you can't do that take out your biomedia or sponge filters and place in another aquarium or bucket with aquarium water with a airstone until you treat your fish. Maracyn has been around since the 80's or earlier l wouldn't trust it to not kill beneficial bacteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 (edited) I used regular Maracyn to treat fin rot on my Betta and honestly I don’t think it did anything. @Colu told me Maracyn treats positive gram bacteria or something and fin rot is negative gram bacteria? I can’t remember but it made sense. I think Kanaplex or Maracyn 2 is the way to go. And salt and catappa leaves did a lot for my betta as well. Edited June 14 by EricksonAquatics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 1:40 PM, Tlindsey said: If possible take the infected fish out and treat in a tote or spare aquarium. actually a great idea. @Cjbear087 if it's larger than 5 gallons could be much cheaper to treat. all you'd need is a plastic container and an airstone to keep it oxygenated. and your cycle would never be at risk. 5 or 10g probably not making much difference in $, but still protecting your cycle. it's one of the reasons I keep extra spongefilters running in tanks. I can add them to quarratine tanks as needed. or instantly cycle a new tank when desired On 6/14/2024 at 1:40 PM, Tlindsey said: Maracyn has been around since the 80's yeah, that's part of the problem, antibiotic resistance has made it ineffective in treating a lot of diseases On 6/14/2024 at 1:05 PM, briancanoles said: I guess you raised temperature to about 82 degrees? That works best for ich. not sure if anything else. Ich is a parasitic disease and part of its life cycle is free swimming. the higher temperature speeds up its life cycle. and the salt doesn't let it get re-established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjbear087 Posted June 14 Author Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 7:27 PM, Tony s said: actually a great idea. @Cjbear087 if it's larger than 5 gallons could be much cheaper to treat. all you'd need is a plastic container and an airstone to keep it oxygenated. and your cycle would never be at risk. 5 or 10g probably not making much difference in $, but still protecting your cycle. it's one of the reasons I keep extra spongefilters running in tanks. I can add them to quarratine tanks as needed. or instantly cycle a new tank when desired yeah, that's part of the problem, antibiotic resistance has made it ineffective in treating a lot of diseases That works best for ich. not sure if anything else. Ich is a parasitic disease and part of its life cycle is free swimming. the higher temperature speeds up its life cycle. and the salt doesn't let it get re-established. I would do it in a qt but I’ve been told I have to treat the main tank and the bacteria lives in the substrate and stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 2:30 PM, Cjbear087 said: I would do it in a qt but I’ve been told I have to treat the main tank and the bacteria lives in the substrate and stuff I cant actually give you a definite answer on that. usually, I treat bettas with fin rot right in their tank. It may be that it does live in the substrate. but it may be that it only infects the betta when it's under stress. lots of diseases work that way. The ones I treat in their tank, I haven't lost a cycle from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 CJBear...lets think a bit wider here. Fin rot is often a consequence of a stress source, and sometimes secondary to the actual issue. So my next questions: -What are you water parameters? (including temp) -How long has tank been established? -What species is the fish who is affected? I would recommend Maracyn 2 or Kanaplex, as a blind recommendation without the answers to the above questions. Personally, I have had more success w/Kanaplex in the water column, and Maracyn 2 in the food, mixed w/Focus and Garlic Guard. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 On 6/14/2024 at 7:30 PM, Cjbear087 said: I would do it in a qt but I’ve been told I have to treat the main tank and the bacteria lives in the substrate and stuff Most cases of fin rot are caused by gram negative bacteria so maracyn2 or kanaplex would be my go to treatment any antibiotic treatment can kill your benefial bacteria so I always test more frequently during treatment I would quarantine and treat the fish on it own I would also add Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties you might have to add one leaf per gallon to get a beneficial effect if the fish is on it's own I would go ahead and treat in it's main tank i would test your water parameters and temperature and look at what your feeding just in case something off as @quikv6 suggested 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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